Crossville, TN where nothing is safe from eminent domain (Fairfield Glade: house, subdivision)

[Gumby5]

If you are interested in doing things on water, you might want to avoid Crossville or any of Cumberland County. We live on Lake Tansi in Cumberland County outside the City of Crossville limits. The City of Crossville is filing eminent domain on our lake so they can control the lake. As Lake Tansi is a private community like Fairfield Glade, the residents were shocked by the City's actions. We moved to Tennessee because of the beautiful lakes and trees. We would advise anyone thinking of retiring to this area to rethink it. The people here and in Crossville are wonderful but as the residents of Tansi have found, in Cumberland County and probably in all of TN, your piece of paradise can be taken away very quickly by any municipality that wants it.....even if your piece of paradise is not even located in their municipality. I wish we'd known this a year ago when we were looking for places to relocate.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Gumby5

If you are interested in doing things on water, you might want to avoid Crossville or any of Cumberland County. We live on Lake Tansi in Cumberland County outside the City of Crossville limits. The City of Crossville is filing eminent domain on our lake so they can control the lake. As Lake Tansi is a private community like Fairfield Glade, the residents were shocked by the City's actions. We moved to Tennessee because of the beautiful lakes and trees. We would advise anyone thinking of retiring to this area to rethink it. The people here and in Crossville are wonderful but as the residents of Tansi have found, in Cumberland County and probably in all of TN, your piece of paradise can be taken away very quickly by any municipality that wants it.....even if your piece of paradise is not even located in their municipality. I wish we'd known this a year ago when we were looking for places to relocate.

Nothing is safe from eminent domain in the US. And as of 2005, The Supreme Court ruled that the government can take your land simply to increase municipal revenue. This is nothing new.

[Tinman313]

I was trying to find a acronym ???? Their is also a Natural Resource Bank on Natural Commodities Timber ~ Oil ~ Gas ~ Mineral... that can be taken by the government. From my understanding their not rateable disclosed in large land sales...also.

[soulful]

Gumby5: Why does Crossville want control of the lake at Tansi? What do they plan to do with it?

[soulful]

Disregard the previous post. I found the answer:

Crossville Chronicle, Crossville, TN - One Man's Trash: Lake Tansi water harvesting

[Tinman313]

Is Lake Tanis feed by rain or does it have a spring or head water ?

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by soulful

Disregard the previous post. I found the answer:

Crossville Chronicle, Crossville, TN - One Man's Trash: Lake Tansi water harvesting

Fabulous column. I love this part.

"The bottom line seems to me that those who live on Lake Tansi have come here because they found a community they liked and wanted to live in. And being part of a community sometimes means we share what we have for the good of all. Threats to “shop elsewhere” or “tell people not to move here” seem very counter productive against the community you live in

Lake Tansi can't be an island. The water doesn't belong to the city or Tansi; it belongs to all of us. And all of us need drinking water if the area we love living in is going to continue."

Once again, land and water are taken away by eminent domain in the entire country. One shouldn't be so quick to blame the entire state of Tennessee. Move to Maryland and they can take your house and build a highway. That's the way it goes. The column says that we share what we have for the good of all. That's the way of Tennessee.

[2mares]

Fabulous column. I love this part.

"The bottom line seems to me that those who live on Lake Tansi have come here because they found a community they liked and wanted to live in. And being part of a community sometimes means we share what we have for the good of all. Threats to “shop elsewhere” or “tell people not to move here” seem very counter productive against the community you live in

I agree. This seems sometimes to be an issue with those that move into an area for "their slice of paridise". They often dont want to be a real part of the community which often means sacrifice and sharing. But I never hear them complain about using the available services.

Eminent domain is alway a hot issue as no one likes being forced to give up their property. Unfortunately it happens all the time, everywhere, so the people of Lake Tansi, Cumberland Co. and TN are not special. At least in this situation the city is only borrowing water and not taking the lake.

[yarddawg]

Originally Posted by 2mares

I agree. This seems sometimes to be an issue with those that move into an area for "their slice of paridise". They often dont want to be a real part of the community which often means sacrifice and sharing. But I never hear them complain about using the available services.

Eminent domain is alway a hot issue as no one likes being forced to give up their property. Unfortunately it happens all the time, everywhere, so the people of Lake Tansi, Cumberland Co. and TN are not special. At least in this situation the city is only borrowing water and not taking the lake.

Yepper. Crossville tried to negotiate in good faith with Tansy for over a year before resorting to eminent domain, they were basically told what to kiss by people who felt it was more important to protect their dock than guarantee that their neighbors down the road would be able to shower regular like. Meanwhile the state was leaning on Crossville to secure their water supply because of a combination of the problems revealed by the 2007 drought and the growth projections of Crossville and Cumberland county, there really weren't a lot of viable options here.


Not sure how it works elsewhere but in Tennessee a restricted subdivision is not a nation unto itself, they should have seen this coming. Heck, at this point, considering the degree of jack__s that a couple of select individuals made of themselves, they should be happy that Crossville didn't take a cue from the Corps of Engineers and take the lake and 25' of the shoreline for a buffer.

[sassykat&joe]

I wonder what people expect when they move to an area where there are not a lot of natural water sources available without infringing on other areas. I betcha the reason that the Crossville area wasn't hugely populated until recently was because of lack of water. But now, developers move in and develop, people move in and elbow everyone out of their way. Gee, how about changing the growth projections? Think about what the land will support, not what you can take from your neighbors. Do without a few of those golf courses. And, if your negotiations fail, they fail - resorting to eminent domain looks like you think the other people aren't as important as you are.